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There has actually been a great deal of research into the health benefits of meditation…

The typical changes, known as the relaxation response are; slowing of heart and respiratory rate, a decrease in blood pressure (etc) and these represent an increase in the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system.

The parasympathetic nervous system is one of the two devisions of the autonomic nervous system, the other is the sympathetic nervous system.
These two nervous systems have opposite effects; the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for emergencies, for fight, flight and fright responses whilst the parasympathetic nervous system has the opposite effect.

Both of these are necessary and they have to be in a state of balance, but I think that you could make an interesting argument that many of the ills of modern life represent the over activity of the sympathetic nervous system.. High blood pressure, irregular heart beat, digestive disturbances, and functional problems are results of physiological imbalances due to increased symapthetic tone, and I suppose you could say that its if the sabre tooth tiger never goes away.

It may be that this nervous system that evolved to protect us from emergencies is now so over stimulated by the stresses of modern living that many of us are kept in a state of readiness for emergencies – its as if the external threat never goes away so the sympathetic nervous system never fully relaxes.

If you can engage the parasympathetic nervous system and increase its activity you can then balance that overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and clearly the relaxation response represents that goal..

Engaging the parasympathetic nervous system can be activated through breath control, various kinds of guided relaxation and I think that many of the techniques of meditation are useful here, and in general when people meditate you will see these physiological changes.. slowing of heart rate etc, and that this is very valuble to us.